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Chapter 23 It's just Uncle San's mission
"The road that makes others envious?"

Riding a horse parallel to Zhang Ping, Zhang Wei raised his eyebrows and jokingly said, "Your father has not found a Purple Mansion Master to take me as his disciple, has he?"

In order to avoid missing out on news like the Luoxia Corpse Chaos by practicing alone in the mountains and forests like he did in the past two years, Zhang Wei had asked Zhang Da to go back to Luyang City every once in a while to inquire about the situation. So he had heard about his reputation among the scholars in Luyang County.

However, Zhang Wei had no intention of explaining, because in his opinion, this was a good thing. It was just the right way to avoid the disturbances of the outside world and practice in peace.

It has been almost three years now, and his brother no longer urges him to get married because he is worried that it will remind him of the incident with Liang Junqiu.

"Uncle, you really dare to think..."

Hearing Zhang Wei's joke, Zhang Ping couldn't help but twitching his lips.

He had also read the miscellaneous notes that Zhang Wei brought back from Linglong Fairy Island, so he had some idea of ​​Master Zifu's status in the world of immortal cultivation and the secular world.

Although the Zhang family has a little bit of strength in Luyang County, it is pure delusion to ask the Purple Mansion Master to help! It is already the best they can do to invite a few successful Qi Refiners!
It seems that my second uncle is still obsessed with cultivating immortals.

After being interrupted by Zhang Wei, Zhang Ping no longer wanted to keep the secret, and said, "Third Grandfather went home to visit his family yesterday."

"Third uncle?"

Zhang Wei was stunned, and his mind quickly recalled an old man with a long beard and a cold face.

Zhang Hui, the third son of Zhang family, was his uncle. He was also the biggest supporter of Luyang Zhang family in the court of Yundu. He was promoted to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel of Yundu, a second-rank official!

It was thanks to his mediation in Yundu that the Zhang family was able to secure the Linglong Xianzong Ascension Order for Zhang Wei!
"Why did he come back suddenly? Is there a disturbance in the court? Emperor Yun wants to take action against the old man from the previous dynasty?"

Zhang Wei asked with a frown, his words not showing any reverence for the Lord of Yun Country, which frightened Zhang Ping so much that he started coughing.

"Ahem... Second Uncle, stop talking nonsense!"

Zhang Ping said helplessly, wondering how his second uncle had become so brave? He even dared to plot against Emperor Yun and the political situation in the court?
For a moment, Zhang Ping didn't know whether the matter his father and third grandfather discussed was good or bad.

"Third Grandpa and other old ministers are the backbone of the Emperor Yun. How could His Majesty do such a thing that would hurt his relatives and please his enemies? Please stop making such remarks!"

Zhang Ping felt very tired. He was obviously the nephew, so why did he need to worry so much about his uncle?

In order to prevent his second uncle from making any more shocking remarks, Zhang Ping could only explain: "In fact, during this period, the annual examination of the Ministry of Personnel began. As the left assistant minister, Third Grandfather was assigned an inspection mission to visit officials in the eight counties in the eastern part of Yun State and inspect their government affairs. He happened to be in Luyang County and went home to visit."

"That's it..."

Zhang Wei nodded, but he still heard something unusual in his third uncle Zhang Hui's work this time.

Since when did a second-rank official of the Ministry of Personnel need to do this hard work of visiting and inspecting in person? My third grandfather is already an old man in his fifties, and he still has to travel all the way. Isn't Emperor Yun afraid that this old minister is on the road?
and so……

"The turmoil in the court has affected Third Grandpa." Zhang Wei sighed in his heart.

Then Zhang Ping said, "But my father asked me to ask you to go home not just to meet Third Grandpa. From what he and Third Grandpa said, they seem to want to arrange for you to study at Yundu Imperial College as a tribute student."

"Yundu, Imperial College?"

Zhang Wei raised his eyebrows. He was familiar with Yundu and Imperial College.

The former had been there with his brother when he was a child and had seen a lot of feudal dregs that needed to be criticized. As for the latter, it was the highest institution of learning in Yundu that he had dreamed of entering when he was still working hard for the imperial examinations.

If scholars who passed the imperial examination could become reserve officials, then the tribute students in the Imperial College were basically interns who served as officials on campus, and their internship was in Yundu, the center of the Yun State.

In addition to daily academic needs, students will also be assigned to various government departments to learn how to handle government affairs, which is to adapt to government work in advance.

Once the scholars of the Imperial Academy graduate or even pass the imperial examination, if there is a vacancy somewhere, these people will be the first to be considered.

It can be said that becoming a tribute student in the Imperial College means one has the highest ecological niche among the group of scholars.

He became a Beijing official right after graduation, and he wouldn't even change his position to a powerful county magistrate!

But the selection of tribute students was very strict. Basically, only one or two people from each county could be selected every three years, and even the aristocratic families did not have enough points.

However, with the help of Uncle San this time, there is a great possibility that the quota of tribute student will fall on Zhang Wei.

At this time, Zhang Wei heard Zhang Ping say, "Second Uncle, I know you have always been a person with ideas. But the facts are helpless. It has been three years. It is time for you to come out of the fantasy of cultivating immortals."

Zhang Wei laughed in silence, knocked Zhang Ping on the head and scolded him, "You little brat, you're not much younger than me, why do you talk so old-fashioned?"

"Ouch, second uncle, please be gentler. Your nephew's small body can't withstand your torture!" Zhang Ping covered his head in pain. He could vaguely feel a big bump forming!
Everyone in the family said that my second uncle was a rare martial arts genius, and they were right! This punch really hurts!

Zhang Wei withdrew his hand in dismay, forgetting that he had just broken through a few days ago, not only did his cultivation level increase dramatically, but his strength also increased a lot. He didn't control his strength well for a moment, and almost beat his nephew to tears.

So he quickly changed the subject and said, "Don't worry, Second Uncle is not as fragile as you think. Go———"

"Uncle, wait for me."

Luyang City, Zhang Mansion, Zhang Xiong’s study.

Zhang Xiong, who already had a lot of gray hair on his temples, was enthusiastically showing a bearskin cloak to a grim-faced old man with a long beard.

Zhang Xiong said like a child showing off a treasure: "Look, Uncle San, this is a bear that Zijie hunted for me. The color of its fur is good, isn't it?"

The old man with a long beard stroked his beard, nodded and commented: "Indeed, this bear is difficult to hunt, and it is even rarer to grow this big, not to mention that there is not even a wound on it. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is top-quality. If it were in Yundu, it would cost at least 100 taels of silver to buy it.

By the way, you just said that this was hunted by Zijie?"

Zhang Xiong smiled and said, "Yes, he suddenly appeared in front of me carrying the bear, and his tongue was sticking out so long that I was scared to death."

Zhang Hui smiled and nodded, but he thought to himself, "He killed a bear weighing several hundred kilograms with his bare hands, and carried it all the way back from the forest. Is this really something that can be achieved by practicing ordinary martial arts for a few years?"

Seeing Zhang Hui's strange expression, Zhang Xiong put the bearskin cloak aside and asked, "Zijie said that he once bought an elixir on Linglong Island. Taking it can give you the strength of nine oxen and two tigers, and your martial arts will improve by leaps and bounds.

It's a pity that it's too expensive, otherwise he would have bought a few more. What's wrong, Uncle San? "

Zhang Hui shook his head and smiled, "It's okay. I just feel that the heavens are unfair. My Zhang family's Qilin son is so smart, but he has no chance to become an immortal."

"Cultivating immortals is just so-so, there's nothing good about it. Isn't it also comfortable to enjoy a lifetime of wealth and honor in the mortal world?" Zhang Xiong said without comment.

"Besides, although Zijie has no chance of becoming an immortal, he has mastered martial arts to perfection. Maybe he can even achieve enlightenment through martial arts!"

"How can it be so easy to enter the Tao through martial arts?" Zhang Hui laughed.

Just as the uncle and nephew were chatting with each other, the voice of the person involved came from outside the study.

"Brother, Third Uncle!"

Before anyone arrives, the sound comes first.

The two of them looked outside at the same time, and saw a handsome young man with an imposing manner walking in with great vigor, which made Zhang Hui's eyes light up.

I couldn't help but think, what a young man! Just based on this appearance, he would be chosen as the third place winner by the emperor in the palace examination!

After realizing who the person was, Zhang Hui laughed out loud: "Hey, look who's here? Isn't this our Zhang family's Qilin child? Haha... I haven't seen you for a few years, and you've grown so big."

"Uncle Three."

Zhang Wei saluted respectfully, then looked at his brother Zhang Xiong.

However, Zhang Xiong at this moment no longer had the friendly expression he had when he was chatting with Zhang Hui. Instead, his face looked very long.

He snorted coldly, "Humph, you still remember to come back? Don't you want to continue soaking in the woods?"

Faced with his brother's complaints, Zhang Wei was too embarrassed to defend himself and could only smile awkwardly.

However, Zhang Hui said at this time: "Don't listen to your brother's nonsense. He just kept asking me to talk about your goodness for a long time. Nuo, just now he asked me to look at the bearskin coat you gave him for a long time, and he was so happy..."

Zhang Xiong, who was sabotaged by Zhang Hui, immediately turned red in the face and quickly coughed twice to remind him, "Ahem, Third Uncle!"

I am the eldest brother after all! Don't tear me down when I am scolding my younger brother. Please give me some face!

However, Zhang Hui pretended not to hear anything. Instead, he pointed at Zhang Xiong and said with a smile: "Look, you are shy and still..."

Zhang Wei wanted to laugh but didn't dare to. He didn't expect that his uncle, who had a cold face and looked unkind, would be so different.

However, after Uncle Zhang Hui made some jokes about Zhang Xiong, the atmosphere between the three of them became much more harmonious. Then Zhang Hui pulled Zhang Wei aside and started chatting.

Zhang Wei's talent was tested slowly from the trivial matters in daily life.

Although Zhang Wei has been busy with research in recent years, he has not fallen behind in his studies thanks to the advantages brought by being an immortal cultivator. In addition, he occasionally quotes famous sayings from his previous life, so Zhang Hui couldn't find any fault with him.

However, when it came to the stage of major events in the world, Zhang Wei and Zhang Hui had endless arguments because of their different understandings of a certain policy made by the court.

In particular, some of Zhang Wei's "treasonous" remarks made Zhang Hui so angry that he was fuming and it took Zhang Xiong a long time to coax him into calming down.

Zhang Hui took a sip of herbal tea to suppress his anger from the argument with his nephew.

He was also puzzled. He was just discussing policies with a junior, but Zhang Hui felt as if he was back in the court debating scriptures with his old rivals. He almost couldn't help but start to interpret the scriptures physically.

Fortunately, Zhang Hui quickly calmed down when he saw the bearskin cloak that Zhang Xiong had placed on the hanger aside out of the corner of his eye, and this prevented a tragedy from happening.

Zhang Hui exhaled and said, "Zijie, although your opinions are still immature, they do have some merits. In this way, I don't have to worry about the Zhang family having no successors."

Then Zhang Hui changed the subject and asked, "I guess you have also learned from Ping'er why your brother and I called you here today?"

Zhang Wei said, "Ping'er told me on the way that you, Uncle San, are planning to arrange for me to study at Yundu Imperial Academy as a tribute student."

Zhang Hui nodded and said, "That's right, the Imperial College is a national treasure, and the students inside are outstanding.

As long as nothing unexpected happens, you will at least be in charge of local government affairs in the future. With your talent, Zijie, if you can enter the Imperial College, it is not impossible for you to stay in Yundu in the future.

But even if I am the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, I cannot ignore the rules. If I force you to be a tribute student, it will give people a reason to criticize me. Do you understand what I mean?"

Zhang Wei said, "I understand. That leaves me speechless."

Zhang Hui sighed, "Well, actually if it had been arranged three years earlier, it wouldn't have been so troublesome.

With the reputation you gained from crossing the county to help Luoxia, you were arranged to be a tribute student at that time, and even those corrupt scholars in the Ministry of Rites could not find any fault with you.

It’s a pity that three years have passed. In the past three years, Luyang County has also produced many young talents, and Zijie, your reputation…”

At this point, Zhang Hui looked up at Zhang Wei. Zhang Wei immediately understood and said with a smile: "Don't worry, Third Uncle, I've already walked out."

"That's good."

Zhang Hui nodded, then took out an envelope from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Wei, saying, “This is what I received in Heishui Town when I was inspecting the eight counties of Luyang.

It is said that there were witches and shamans in the area who bewitched the villagers and held obscene sacrifices to make a fortune. However, the local county lieutenant brought people to deal with the matter but returned empty-handed.

If you can resolve this matter and let Xiong'er do some work, then it will be much easier for me to put your name on the list of tribute students this year."

Zhang Wei opened the envelope, carefully read the information on it, closed it, and then smiled confidently.

"Understood, Third Uncle, just wait and see!"

One morning later, a handsome young man in blue clothes riding a tall horse came on the official road of Heishui Town.

The young man had a long sword slung around his waist, and judging from his dusty appearance, he was another young knight roaming the world.

The townspeople and soldiers of Heishui Town also thought so, so they did not question him any further. They just checked him, collected a copper coin as an entry tax, and then let him enter the city.

Arriving at the largest restaurant in the town, the young man left his horse in the care of the waiter and found a secluded place, ordered two side dishes and started drinking by himself.

However, in reality, a field that ordinary people could not perceive silently enveloped the entire restaurant. Everything that happened in the restaurant could not escape the young man's ears.

For example, right now, in the private room upstairs, the three patriarchs of the largest families in Heishui Town are sitting in the room, looking at a table full of delicacies from land and water, not knowing what to eat.

Everyone looked sad.

At this time, a middle-aged man with a big belly, Xu He, the head of the Xu family, one of the three major local families, took the lead and asked, "Tell me, both of you, what are your plans?"

Tan Kui, the head of the Tan family, said with a bitter face: "It's not that I don't want to pay, but isn't this Cai Xiangu asking for too much? It would be fine if she asked us to sacrifice three pairs of boys and girls, but she also asked us to pay so much money?"

Zheng Qiang, the head of the Zheng family, also agreed, "Yes, three hundred taels of silver. Every family contributed three hundred taels, plus the peasants' contributions. This time, Fairy Cai took at least two thousand taels, right? This is too much! Last time, she only wanted one hundred taels!"

Tan Kui slapped the table angrily and said, "Yes, it's too much! And most importantly, this woman really wants it!
In the past, when we encountered tigers blocking the road, we would pay money and then lead the peasants to pay money. Then we would return our money in full, split the peasants' money with the hunters 90% and give the county magistrate a gift.

But now! That Fairy Cai asked for the peasant’s money, and she even wanted our money! Two thousand taels of silver is enough to donate three township officials to the three of us in Yundu!"

Tan Kui said bitterly, and it was obvious from his expression that he really felt sorry for the money.

Xu He clapped his hands and said, "What's the point of complaining? Are you really afraid to give it to me? Don't forget that Fairy Cai is truly an immortal! You saw the Dragon King appear that day!"

"This……"

Tan Kui and Zheng Qiang looked at each other, and Tan Kui asked, "Really?"

Zheng Qiang gritted his teeth and nodded, "Here!"

Tan Kui said distressedly: "But the money..."

At this time, Xu He rolled his eyes and said secretly, "The people who went out to collect the donations are ours, right? Then it is only right for the people of Blackwater Town to donate generously for the good weather and good harvest next year."

After hearing what Xu He said, Tan Kui and Zheng Qiang understood.

There is no way. These days, even landlords don’t have any surplus food.

Then we can only ask the people to pay more. I believe the people will understand our difficulties.

Moreover, our three major families have been working hard over the years, and we haven't been able to eat or sleep well recently because of the Dragon King's matter. It won't be too much to ask for more nutrition fees when the time comes, right?

As the saying goes, once the bottom line is broken, the pattern will open up.

The three clan leaders who had figured it out quickly reached a tacit understanding on this matter. The original depression was swept away, and the three excitedly drank two glasses of wine.

At this time, Xu He seemed to remember something, so he asked, "By the way, have you arranged the candidates for those six little beasts?"

Tan Kui said with a big tongue: "Arrangements... all arranged. According to the lottery, they are all those troublemakers! Now they are locked up in the Dragon King Temple and starving! I guarantee that the Dragon King will eat clean and hygienic food in two days!"

"That's good. If we upset the Dragon King's stomach and make him unhappy, and ruin next year's spring ploughing, it will be our fault."

"Come on, come on, drink some wine..."

Listening to the sounds of the three insects upstairs, the young man downstairs slightly tightened his hand holding the wine glass.

"The Dragon King Temple..."

Thanks to Fengqichengdie for the 100-point reward

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(End of this chapter)